Chapter 585
“Welcome, Vice Admiral Garp!”
In a terrifying Sea King domain, a great undersea prison buried deep in the sea, known as Impel Down.
A large group of marine soldiers, under the lead of Magellan and the Chief Warden Hannyabal, came out to welcome the arrival of Vice Admiral Garp.
On the dog-headed warship, behind Garp followed by Coby who became an Admiral and Helmeppo, passed in front of the marine who lined up to greet him and came to Magellan.
Faced with Vice Admiral Garp, Magellan respectfully said, “Vice Admiral Garp, with the permission of Sengoku, you can meet Ace alone. We have prepared a room.”
From the era of the great sea to become the marine senior officials, the witness of Garp era knew that Garp was the legend of the marine, known as countless pirates nightmare.
It was because of the existence of Garp that the marine was able to stand tall in the dark age and protect the justice of the marine. This was the treatment that Garp should receive.
Garp nodded and went into the prison, “No need, I’m just saying something. I don’t need any special room, I just need to go to the Level 6.”
As Garp entered, Magellan and the other officials of the Impel Down walked into the prison, leaving the team of marines outside.
Through the elevator, Garp walked all the way, there was no usual smile on his face, only a serious face.
The elevator door opened and Garp stepped out. Magellan and others didn’t follow him. Everyone knew the relationship between Garp and Ace. This was the time for the two of them to talk.
Level 6 was the most important floor in the entire Down. Compared to the Level 5, this place was deathly silent.
This was because all the prisoners here were extremely dangerous existences for the headquarters.
Usually, in addition to the prison guards who delivered food, no one else came to Level 6. Many prisoners had stayed in this dark prison for decades.
Steady footsteps sounded on the Level 6 of the Impel Down. Many strong people on the Level 6 who were resting opened their eyes in that moment.
It was not a strange thing that someone came. After all, there were people delivering food everyday, but they could feel that the person who came was a strong person.
The aura of this strong person did not belong to Magellan, but the aura he emitted was much stronger than Magellan.
“Garp, you old man, you are not dead yet!”
After walking through the long corridor and passing through a prison door, a strange aura suddenly came out from it, and the terrifying darkness mixed in.
Hearing his shout, Garp suddenly stopped, he looked at the prison and said, “Redfield, you didn’t die in the prison, how could I die?”
He saw a man in a red cloak with two clear blood marks on his face. He must be a strong man who dominated the Grand Line in the past.
Unfortunately, he was caught by the marine. Now, he stayed here with two seastone handcuff fixed on his shoulders.
Patrick Redfield slowly opened his eyes and said, “Garp, I didn’t expect to see you again. You sent me to the prison and let me stay there for ten years.”
Looking away from Patrick Redfield, Garp stepped out and said, “This era has changed. You should stay here. It is the best choice.”
Not only Patrick Redfield, Garp met at least a lot of strong pirates who woke up and greeted Garp.
Most of them were defeated by Garp and then sent to the prison. Until now, some of them have a lot of hatred with Garp.
Ignoring these people, Garp went directly to a prison room and stopped his steps. He looked at the figure in the prison room that was tightly locked on the ground by the seastone chains.
Noticing that someone came, the figure didn’t look up and said with his head down, “Smelly old man, you are here!”
The silent Level 6 was noisy because of Garp’s arrival. How could the figure not know Garp’s arrival? At the same time, he also understood that Garp came here to find him.
“Ace, you stinking brat!” Looking at the decadent figure in the cell, Garp still scolded as usual.
However, there was no anger or teaching in his words, there was only helplessness and tiredness in his heart.
When he looked up, Ace looked at Garp with his haggard face and smiled. “Smelly old man, you are still the same as before, you scolded us the moment you opened your mouth.”
“Just like in the past, the first time Luffy and I heard you call me stinky boy, and then beat us up. You want us to become marines, but we all become pirates.”
Speaking of Luffy, Ace smiled from the bottom of his heart, “I heard that Luffy not only defeated Crocodile, but also defeated Lucci CP9, and the boy who caused trouble slowly became famous.”
“Ace, do you really not know?” Garp’s silent voice sounded, and it was a question, “Luffy is the same as you, the more famous you are, the easier it is for you to be targeted by the marines. Maybe one day, Luffy will be like you.”
Shaking his head, Ace said firmly, “No, Luffy is the man who became the Pirate King. How could he be caught by the marine?”
“Old man, did you know? Back then, both of us went out to sea as pirates, but our starting point was different.”
“Luffy wanted to be the most free existence in the sea and experience all kinds of interesting adventures, but I wanted to walk on the path of that man. I wanted to see if there was a reason for him to abandon his family.”
When mentioning that man, Ace was no longer young. He easily revealed his excitement and anger, hatred, and only calmness.
He pursed his lips and asked, “In the end, did you find the answer you needed?”
“No.” He lowered his head. Ace didn’t find the answer he want when he went out to sea. He suddenly changed the topic, “However, I found a real family, a feeling that can let me experience a family.”
“Family?” Garp murmured. He had a feeling of understanding.
He had always understood his grandson. When he heard countless people around him say that his father was a big bad guy, and Ace, who was thought to be the culprit of his mother’s death, he lacked a real family.
After a pause, Ace continued, “Dad gave me the responsibility and things that the man never gave me. For me, I only have one father.”
This time, Garp didn’t say anything. Instead, he opened the door and walked in. He came in front of Ace and looked down at him. He raised his hand and mercilessly slapped him.
Pa!
A loud slap echoed throughout the prison. Looking at Ace who had blood on his mouth, Garp angrily scolded, “Did you know? Twenty years ago, I was also in the prison. That man wanted me to do one thing. He wanted me to help you safely descend to this world.”
“Is that so?” Ace looked at Garp with disdain and shouted excitedly, “But when I was born, where was the man? When my mother died, where was the man? When I could only watch countless people return home with my age, but I didn’t even have the most basic family. Where was he?”
As if he had vented his anger, Ace slowly relaxed, “Actually, sometimes, I envy Luffy. Although he doesn’t know who his parents are, he has countless people in the Windmill Village who care about him.”
Hearing this, Garp raised his palm in anger and didn’t have the strength to continue.
Hey!
With a deep sigh, Garp sat down cross-legged and slowly said, “You know, your mother endured for twenty months in order to let you escape the marine search.”
“During that time, I often secretly observed your mother. She was a terrifying woman and mother. She delayed your birth by ten months. That was a miracle.”
“Back then, when she gave you to me, besides asking me to take care of you, she also wanted me to let you understand that he was a real father! But now it seems like I didn’t do it well.”
Hearing this, the excited Ace calmed down. After a long silence, he shook his head and said, “Stinky old man, you didn’t do anything wrong. You did well, but I only have one father, and that is the Whitebeard!”
Silence. The prison room suddenly fell into a strange silence. Neither of them spoke, just like this.
Finally, Garp made this silence. He clenched his fist and his body trembled slightly. Even a man like Garp would tremble.
“Why? Ace, why can’t you follow what I said and become a pirate? Why?”
Looking at the trembling old man in front of him, Ace could see a glimmer of light in the old man’s eyes.
Ace suddenly understood how the old man was struggling in his heart. On one hand, it was his grandson. On the other hand, it was his own justice and belief. Why did this old man need to rest?
“Ace, you know that there are countless people in this world that worried about you. Now that you are caught by the marine, how many people will be affected? How many people will step onto the road to save you?”
“Your mother used her life to let you land in this world. Lin Tian told me that he didn’t stopped you in Arabasta. Why didn’t you cherish your life? Why did you go?”
For ten years, Ace felt that this was the first time he was so close to Garp. He couldn’t help but feel sour in his eyes.
Ace raised his hands from the ground and slowly knelt down. He kowtowed to Garp who was sitting in front of him.
“I’m sorry… Grandpa!”